Knitting

Daisy Rectangular Shawl by LDSVenus

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2nd Comfort Shawl Finished 001

I have reworked the design to take care of some mistakes I made in the pattern. Bare with me as I am not a pattern writer.  I can read them, but writing them is a totally different subject :). I also increased the border to 5 stitches instead of 3.

I designed this shawl using an old Shetland lace daisy design.

Do remember I offer this pattern for you to make the shawl, but you may NOT give this pattern out to someone else or sell the pattern.  Please direct them to this site or Ribblr to share the pattern.  With that out of the way, please enjoy my design.

B = border = k5
k = knit
p = purl
k2 tog = knit 2 together
yo = yarn over – note yo twice is a double yo and on the purl rows you will knit the first yo and purl the 2nd yo.
ssk = slip, slip, knit  (see the following site  : http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/decreases )
* * = repeat between the *

The lace design will appear as a diagonal design rather than horizontal or vertical and by shifting the design on rows 13-19 you can probably accomplish a vertical design.  This is worked from side to side so the cast on is the width.  I used approximately a fingering weight yarn and  size 7 needles.

This is not a hard pattern but you need to pay attention on the yarn overs to make sure you have two between the two decreases so it doesn’t mess up your stitch count (it can be easy to drop one when you do the ssk), and on the pearl row that you knit the first one and pearl the second one.) A life line might be nice :).

The k2tog is a right leaning decrease and the ssk is a left leaning decrease, I knit combined continental and the way I do my stitch decreases might not give you the lean you need, please feel free to do whatever decrease gives you the correct lean.

cast on 116 stitches.
Knit 5 rows for garter stitch border

Keep 5 stitches on each there after for garter stitch border through out.

Knit one row and purl one row keeping border in garter stitch before beginning the pattern.

The pattern ends with row 24

Rows 1, 5 and 9:
B, k6, *k2 tog, yo twice, ssk, k14*, end k6 instead of 14, B

Rows 2 and all even rows: B, p to last 5 stitches, B  (please note above in the stitch abreviations how to purl the double yo’s)

Rows 3, and 7:
B, k4, *k2 tog, yo twice, ssk, k2 tog, yo twice, ssk, k10*, end k4 instead of 10, B

Row 11:
B, knit to last 5stitches, B

Rows 13, 17, 21:
B, *k15, k2 tog, yo twice, ssk, k14*, end k15, B

Rows 15, & 19:
B, k13, *k2 tog, yo twice, ssk, k2 tog, yo twice, ssk, k10*, end k13 instead of 10, B

Row 23: B, knit to last 5 stitches, B

Row 24: B, p to last 5 stitches, B

Repeat these 24 rows until the shawl is the desired length.

End with 5 rows of garter stitches (the border should be already established with the garter stitch you are knitting) and bind off.

I did not notice any errors in my writing when I re-knit this, I used this printed page to knit from.  If you have any problems following my pattern please drop me a line and let me know so that I can help you.

2nd Comfort Shawl is finished!

/ LDSVenus / 2 Comments

Finally Finished and Blocked!

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Well, it is finished, blocked and given!!  As you can tell it is a diagonal pattern.  I orginally wanted to do vertical however that is just not the way it worked out.  I still have to figure out the correct number to cast on (had a little extra on one side and when I discovered it I was a bit too far to want to frog and begin again) and to cut the width down.  So give me a few days as I work this out and then I will post the pattern in My Free Knitting Patterns page for you to enjoy.  This Alpaca yarn drapes very nicely as a shawl and I’m sure it will be well loved.  I’m sad that it is a discontinued yarn tho, as it was lovely to work with and very soft.  I can now get back to spinning that wonderfully soft cria (baby Alpaca).

Well my children almost got to either come visit me in the hospital in the critial unit or to the morgue to identify me yesterday.  I was on my way to my daughter’s new house to get some steak and hambergers that were left over from her birthday party on Friday evening and as I was driving on a major street at 3o mph, a driver from a cross street didn’t stop at his stop sign and he was going about 40 to 50 mph.  I saw him out of he corner of my eye and knew he would not be stoping so I slammed on my brakes (fortunately there was no one behind me) and he came barreling out across the street and I missed hitting him by about 6 inches.  Hope it scared him as much as it did me.  I drive an older small sub compact car and the engine would have been sitting in my lap as I would have broadsided him.  Thank goodness for quick reactions and promptings from the Spirit alerting me to the other car.

Update on 2nd Comfort Shawl – Kinda Sorta :)

/ LDSVenus

Click on picture for larger image

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Well, obviously deadlines were made to be broken ;).  I have been knitting on it , and this is not a great picture but just to show you it’s a bit over 1/2 way done.  I wasn’t able to knit on it as much as I had hoped and I made an error on a row and will have to tink back 3 rows to fix it, arrrgh!  That has made me put it aside for a few days but I’m going to tink the rows back this evening and get started on it again.  There will be a few changes to the pattern before I publish it on my website, some things that I weren’t what I was trying to do, but can fix them in the pattern.

I hope you all have had a chance to check out my sister’s blog Eat It Anyway, she has some good recipes and awesome crafts there. (Hey, sis, can I have some pralines now?) hehe.

Busy Month

/ LDSVenus

 

.What a busy month this has been.  Things are picking up at work and it has been pretty busy (tho’ my supervisor tells me it’s not that busy – I’ve seen the numbers and it has picked up, but yes it will get much busier :P).  This week will be the busiest of the month and will only get busier as the summer comes.   My weekends this month have been busy with church projects for service.  I went to the Temple the first Saturday of this month (it’s a 2 1/2 to 3 hr drive), cleaned the chapel the next Saturday and yesterday our Relief Society did a service project and made baby blankets for the neonatal preemie unit at our local hospital and made thank you and birthday cards for the local meals on wheels program.  Always feels good to do service, but makes the weekends go by way too fast :P.  Next Saturday I have a dear friend that is coming to town to visit me and to see her daughter graduate from high school, that does not seem possible – only yesterday her daughter was this little girl getting ready for kindergarten.

There are some people who ride the bus in the mornings that have varying degrees of Down’s syndrome.  They are going to their day hab programs or to the places that hire them to work a few hrs a day.  I notice that when other people get on the bus they usually sit farther back.  I don’t, I sit up front closer to them – I enjoy their playful light hearted chatter with each other and their friendliness.  They always have a smile and a hello and it’s a refreshing distraction before the stressful duties of my job.  I feel like they are the closest I will get to angels here on earth.

I continue to work on the comfort shawl, but have not had the time to work on it as much as I would like to, I was hoping to be done with it by now, but am just a little bit over 1/2 done.  I’ll give my self another couple of weeks before I start fussing at myself.  I do knit a few rows on the bus ride home and when I’m not to busy to take my lunch break, I knit then too, but that really is not nearly enough time to be spending on it.  I’d really like to be spinning on that cria alpaca, however I can’t justify my spinning until I get closer to finished with the shawl.  I’ll update my progress on the shawl next week, maybe setting a deadline will make me find the time to work on it.  sigh.

One Year Ago Today…..

/ LDSVenus / 4 Comments

Son & Grand Daughter

 It’s been a year ago today since I lost my youngest child.  He called me almost every night and I miss those phone calls.  He never had anything  really serious talk about, I think he was just lonely and wanted to talk about what his day had been like to someone who would listen to him and cared about it.  My biggest fear is that his little daughter won’t remember who he was because she was only 3 1/2 and she and her mom live about 5 hrs from me.  My car won’t drive that far so I have no way to visit her and if the mom ever comes to my city, she’s never let me know.  I’m not angry at the mom, tho’ she will have a lot to explain to her daughter when she gets older, I just hope she will help my grand daughter to remember her dad, who loved her very much.

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Grand Daughter's Watercolor

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My oldest grand daughter is very artistic.  She likes to do beading and she plays the violin.  Now she has done this watercolor in her art class (she is in middle school).  I’m properly impressed – I know my sister will be impressed too as she is also very artistic as well and she and my grand daughter are best buds.   I also enjoy many crafts and I sing so I guess she comes by it naturally. 😉  She gave this picture to me and probably tomorrow I will go find a frame for it.  I introduced my other two grand children (who will be 5 and 3 next month) to the Smurfs.  Hehe, they loved the old cartoons.  When I go to babysit on Friday nights they always ask if I’m bringing my Smurf dvd (bought it from amazon.) 
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I’m over half way through the 2nd comfort shawl now.  Had to tink about 4 rows, twice – was trying to knit in a car while carrying on a conversation while on the way to the Temple in Nauvoo last Saturday (such a peaceful place).  Anyway that meant that I had to re-knit the tinked rows twice,  sheesh.  Hope everyone is enjoying the last of spring as we get ready to head into summer.  And I have to say that we have hit the upper 80’s already this last week, and my air conditioner is on the fritz.  My land lord is going to have someone come look at it.  He looked at it and said he thought it was the fan.  After today the temps are going back down a bit so it won’t be so hard on my fur baby.  At least living on the upper floor of the apt I have been able to leave windows open so it wasn’t sweltering inside.

2nd Comfort Shawl Update & General Conference

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2nd Comfort Shawl Update - click picture for larger image

 

Here is the newest picture.  It’s coming right along and looks pretty good so far, it is not blocked in this picture.  I promise I will post the instructions as soon as I am finished so I can make sure all the kinks are worked out.  I’m sure it will be at least several weeks out before I’m finished with this shawl.  I’ve been able to knit on it a lot the last two days as General Conference is this week end and I do have the BYU channel on my cable here.  So I’ve been able to sit on my couch and knit as I listen to the Prophet, his Counselors, the quorum of the 12 Apostles and the other General Authorities of the Church speak.  It has been wonderfully uplifting, a spiritual feast which has been so needed.  I have looked forward more than usual for several months to General Conference in anticipation of the spiritual uplift and peace it always brings to me.  What a blessing my tesitmony is in my life, knowing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth again, with living prophets and apostles and their living testimony of the Savior.  

With all the upheaval in the world today, natural disasters and personal burdens and turmoil – I wish you his peace.

2nd Comfort Shawl Start

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Start of 2nd comfort Shawl

 

Ok, I promised a picture of the start of the comfort shawl I have designed (well I didn’t create the lace pattern – it appears to be a shetland lace pattern, someone correct me if I’m wrong – but I did design where that pattern went on a rectangular shaw.)  I am stagering the pattern every other row rather than have them right under each other every row.  I’ll post another picture when I get more done, it was hard to block enough of it to see the design properly with so little of it done yet.  This is alpaca yarn, and unfortunately has been disconntinued but it is very soft and I love it.  A comfort shawl should be comfy and soft and so I wanted to use alpaca for it, I should have just enough to do this shawl.  🙂

PIF IS HERE!!!!

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PIF!!!! (click picture to enlarge)

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I got home from work today and there was a box for me.  WOOHOO! it was the PIF (pay it forward) from my knitting/spinning  friend at LS Fiber Adventures.

Don’t you love getting unexpected packages?  It came at a perfect time as this has been a hard week.  I opened it up and there was all this loveliness!  She knitted me the most beautiful lace scarf with beautiful shades of turquoise (my favorite color!)  I’m sure she spun the yarn as well.  It will be well loved! 🙂  There is some beautiful Bluefaced Leicester roving to spin – I’ve never spun this kind of wool it will be a fun adventure and spinning hand painted multi color roving is way fun because you never know what you will end up with.  There is a CD with gospel music that will be a wonderful addition to my Sunday music, I love hymns and gospel music ;).  There was a fun pair of Easter socks (they will be very fun to wear!)  There are two very cute  journals, as a latter-day saint I do keep a journal, tho not as diligently as I should, this is a great reminder to keep up with it and when my present journal is full, these will take it’s place.  And last but hardly least there is some very yummy eatable goodies – wonderfully delicious wafers rolled around a vanilla creme 🙂 and Cadbury mini eggs.  I feel like it’s Christmas!!!

Wasn’t it just Day Light Savings Time? SPRING!!

/ LDSVenus / 1 Comment
Old Indian Wisdom (click on picture to read words)

I notice the older I get the faster things come up.  Remember when you were young and it took forever for your birthday or summer to get here?  Now they just whiz by at an alarming rate, that seems to be one of the unfortunate things that happen as we get older and gain wisdom (well I hope I have accrued some wisdom anyway :P.)  At any rate, I used this Old Indian bit of wisdom again because (with just a hint of sarcasm) obviously the federal government didn’t pay attention last year when I used it on my blog and day light savings time is here again this year.  sigh.

Well, WOOT WOOT, my car has been repaired and is in my garage!!!  However (don’t you just know there is always a however?)  my foot isn’t healed sufficiently yet to drive it.  I drove it home from the mechanics house about 20 mins away and my left ankle is letting me know about it (it’s a manual with a clutch and not an automatic transmission).  So it will be a couple more weeks before I can drive it because I went back to the Dr yesterday, (my supervisor thought my foot should be healed by now and suggested I go back to the Dr), and she said “nope, as long as you are using that ankle the ligaments you tore will be very slow to heal”.  She wanted to put an air cast on it because she knows I am single and self supportive and staying totally off of it is not an option, but they didn’t have one and I have to wait until I get paid on Tuesday to afford it.  But I want it to heal so I can drive and walk and all that other stuff that I haven’t been able to do since the middle of Jan when I fell down the stairs, so on Tuesday when I get paid, I will go get one and use it (the pharmacy is only a few blocks from my house).  She did put a splint type of brace on it which she said would be better than the soft support one that I was using, and she put me on a high dose of ibuprofen every 6 hrs for a full week to help with the inflammation.  So I’m crossing my fingers that in 2 or 3 weeks I will be back to more normal :).

 After 4 trips to the frog pond, I have finally figured out my pattern for the new comfort shawl I am making.  When I get a bit more done on it so that you can see the pattern I will post a picture of it.  When I am completely done I will post  a link to the original daisy shawl pattern and my version of a rectangular shawl pattern for it along with the picture of the finished shawl :).  I’m torn right now between wanting to spin and wanting to knit, but the knitting is winning out at the moment.  Perhaps later this week when I need a break from the shawl, I will pay more attention to the “come hither” from my spinning wheel.

I did see the geese flocking back a week ago last Thursday (March 3rd) and all the wonderful red-breasted Robins!!  The female Robins should be showing up in the next week or so – they are usually about 2 weeks behind the males so the males can set up their territories to court the females and entice them to their carefully picked out and fought for spots.  AHHH, SPRING IS IN THE AIR!  Farewell Old Man Winter!! 🙂

One Lone Christmas Catus Bud

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Late Christmas cactus bud

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While I was watering my plants this last week end, after neglecting them for a little over a week,  I noticed a single bud on my Christmas cactus.  It has already bloomed this last November or December and I have never seen one bloom so late.  Not sure why just one bud or why so late in the season.  But I will just enjoy the beautiful blossom when it unfolds and wonder.

Also this weekend when I was trying to update my wordpress software for my website, it failed and knocked out my blog and other pages.  I could see my home page but that was it, I had no access to my admin functions.  So I went to my brilliant son (who is the server administrator for my website, and a programmer). When I told him I wasn’t able to get into my admin functions, he looked at it and said “it is very broken”.  But he had it restored and up and running before I knew it.  If you are needing a new website and interested in someone who is willing to listen to your needs and work with you do check out his website TDM Web Consulting. 🙂

I’m still working on the design for the comfort shawl, but after having to frog it 4 times, I’m going to cast on a few patterns of the daisy with some scrap yarn and work on that instead of messing up this nice alpaca yarn, until I figure out what I need to correct the pattern.  Maybe this week end. 

Also we are suppose to have 40’s and 30’s the rest of the week, WOOT!!!  Gotta love that Spring is right around the corner.  I haven’t seen them, but someone told me that they have already seen male robins before March 1st.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen them here before March.  I’ll be on the look out and see if I can get a picture.  🙂  I guess that means an early Spring, maybe that groundhog was right!!